Word: volumnia
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Weiss and McCarthy revelled in their roles as the dastardly consuls, sneaking around the stage in dirty, gaudy orange suits while manipulating the people of Rome. They offered a severely satirical portrait of political corruption. Zimmet's performance as Volumnia, Coriolanus' mother, matched Egan's in intensity. Zimmet proved extremely capable of fleshing out her character's witty lines, as well as her questionable relationship with Coriolanus...
...keenest intelligence to carry all of that off, and Morgan Freeman accomplishes it in this rousing production of the play at Joseph Papp's off-Broadway Public Theater. It also requires one other thing, a figure of equal mettle in the tigress role of Coriolanus' mother, Volumnia...
Joining the Volscian commander Aufidius (Julian Glover), Coriolanus leads an army toward Rome, determined to burn the city. Only the heart-wrenching plea of his mother Volumnia (Maxine Audley) deters him, after which Aufidius slays...
Only in the climactic maternal confrontation, which should be unbearably tender, does Howard falter. Tears wet his cheeks, but he does not really seem to weep. Perhaps this is because Audley's Volumnia is like a stage mother who has pushed her son into the limelight, not nurtured him for later glory...
Equally fine is Frances Gitter as his mother Volumnia, giving the most articulate and intelligent performance in a generally excellent cast. Frank Hartenstein's lighting added more to characterization than one dares hope for at the Loeb: a scene between Coriolanus and six others on a balcony proved remarkable in that only Coriolanus's shadow was projected onto the stage floor fifteen feet below, serving to isolate him completely from the other more reasonable characters...